Thursday, 1 August 2013

After three years, EMOP XII will be past - hopefully leaving participants with unforgettable scientific discoveries, theories and understanding. And memories. After the Multicolloquium, it may be a good idea to brew the germinating thoughts at one of the Post EMOP Tours which the Local Organizing Committee (LOC) is planning in collaboration with Turku Touring. A natural, easy and tranquil choice is The Turku Archipelago, to visit some of the more than 20,000 islands of the, by some definitions, largest archipelago in the world, with possibilities to biking, fishing, canoeing, or just relaxing. There is a recent Lonely Planet article that may give an idea how it is like. Just a comment on the cinnamon "korvapuusti" buns; please, don't expect to find them on all breakfast tables. And, while it is true that Finland was the first country in the world to grant unrestricted voting rights to women in 1906, that was before Finland gained its independence from Russia; so the suffragette action had to be accepted by the Grand Duke of Finland, Russian Tsar Nicholas II. But, the Finns are still proud of the gender equality.

But the main thing, of course, is the Multicolloquium itself. As you may already be aware, the LOC put a poll on this this site (Choose your preferences of sessions/symposia/workshops at the EMOP XII). For some reason, this poll has not been functioning as it should; votes keep on dropping from file. We are very sorry for this, and strive to solve the problem, but it appears to be a general one for Blogspot. However, we have followed the votes consistently, and the top topics have almost always included (top ten):

The poll is not functioning properly and can not be corrected on the blog. As a result we will move the poll shortly to an external poll, but keep the results we have got. Meanwhile, we wish to cordially thank all the voters hitherto!

We are also very grateful for the excellent suggestions given by commentators. These will be taken into account when updating the poll:

Diphyllobothrium phylogeny and host range; Cestode taxonomy, especially of fresh water fishes; Parasites and pregnancy; Sarcocystis; Evolutionary Parasitology; Sensitivity and specificity of diagnostic tests; The concept of "strongyles" and "strongylids". These are all very natural additions to the poll. And then, "Philosophical aspects of parasitism" to wide our views!

Enjoy the summer! In Turku it is now (July 26th, 2013, at 11 am) 22 ºC, and the sky is clear. See you in Turku in three years,